5 Ways to Honor Our Green Spaces with Watson Whitford

00:00:00] Frank Oscar Weaver: Welcome to Indigenous Earth, where we explore Indigenous wisdom to help you protect and connect to our planet. From the Pai Tavytera Tribe of Paraguay, I'm your host, Frank Oscar Weaver.

Today we're going to be counting the top five ways for being a mindful visitor in parks and natural places. 

Five ways to honor our green spaces. 

[00:00:35] Frank Oscar Weaver: Whenever you're planning to visit places like Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, or even a local community park, these principles will help you become a more conscious steward of the sacred places.

And stay with me until the end because I want to share a powerful way to bring all those teachings home. But before we dive in, I just want to acknowledge that many of these green spaces are on ancestral indigenous lands. These parks have been stewarded by Native people for thousands of generations, and many remain sacred ceremonial grounds to this day.

I am so happy to have Watson Whitford as our special guest. Watson is a fellow Unity Earth Ambassador, Unity Co President, a Prairie Chicken Dancer. You can find easily him having meetings in Washington, hanging out with the Castle Reservation dogs, or documentaries as an Indigenous youth advocate, or sharing uplifting wisdoms in his Instagram.

com. au Wa welcome to the show. 

[00:01:30] Watson Whitford: Thank you very much for inviting me to join you here today. Um, I am really happy to be able to share a little bit and, um, I'll quickly do a introduction. Uh.

Hello everybody, my name is Watson Whitford and I come from the Chippewa Cree tribe in Rocky Boy, Montana, and also the Navajo Nation. And I just did a quick introduction in both of my languages. In the Cree language, my name is Wapanatag, which means Morning Star, and I come from the Navajo tribe and my clans are Edgewater.

Thank you. Um, I'm the Edgewater clan born for the Chippewa Cree people. My maternal grandfather is the Folded Arms people and my paternal grandfather is the Chippewa Cree people. So again, thank you so much for inviting me to be here today. I'm super excited to start this discussion. 

[00:02:38] Frank Oscar Weaver: Yeah, for sure. I'm so, I'm so happy to have you.

When we, uh, last met, it was at the unity, uh, conference and you know, you call me on stage to get my own earth ambassador medallion and it was such a beautiful ceremony. And Watson, I got to tell you, that wasn't one of the happiest experiences that I had. Uh, so I'm just so happy to have you in the show. I thank you again.

Number five. Get in the right state of mind. 

[00:03:03] Frank Oscar Weaver: And in Paraguay, before we enter a forest or river or any kind of natural green spaces, we kind of like to pause for a bit and ask permission because we asking permission to enter the woods. That is the home of so many plants, so many animals, and just, you know, being a polite guest.

So that will be number five. 

[00:03:27] Watson Whitford: Asking that permission, you know, when we're entering these spaces, um, you know, we may be entering, um, a space where there's different animals, there's different spiritual beings, plants, sacred plants, medicines, all these things that live there. And, you know, when we have that right state of mind, we may look at, um, smudging ourselves.

Uh, for the Cree people, we smudge ourselves with sage. Um, and that is a way to cleanse our mind, our body, our spirit, so that when we enter these spaces, we go in there with the right state of mind, we go in there with a peaceful state of mind, a respectful state of mind, so that when we go into these places, we don't offend or hurt any of these people.

beings there that live there. And we also just really want to be respectful. And this could be said the same for ceremonies too. Before you enter a ceremony, you need to make sure you're in that right state of mind. And, um, you know, because, you know, You don't want to offend or hurt these spirits that are participating in these ceremonies or maybe living in these certain areas.

And so, you know, that's a very important thing to do and remember, you know, whenever we go out, um, and another thing, too, about that, we do our best to give something when we enter a space or when we're, you know, going to hike or when we get on top of a mountain or something. We, we give. For the Cree people, we give tobacco, we offer tobacco, um, and that's our way of giving thanks for our ability to travel through that area, um, to ask that we could travel through there safely, um, and respectfully.

And so, you know, I think that's a very important thing to do. is to give something when you're going to be possibly disturbing that space, or maybe you're you're picking a plant, or you know, different things like that when you're harvesting. That's something that's really important for all of us to remember, um, especially in today's world, there's people that are hiking all over, people that are doing stuff in the, um, in the nature, and then also, you know, I really wish, um, That these huge corporations would be able to remember that too, when they mine for these, um, stones and these minerals or when they do pipelines for oil, you know, these are important things to remember because, um, If we can have that, then we're showing respect for our Mother Earth, for her beings, for the plants, the animals, and then it'll allow her to maintain her health.

Um, but, you know, we don't see that today, and I think that's why there's a lot of issues that we face with climate change. There's a lot of issues that we face with oil spills in these oceans, in these rivers, and things like that. So I guess just a reminder to our relatives out there, you know, when you're going entering these spaces, make sure to give that offering and to smudge yourself so that you can be in those spaces in a good way.

[00:06:34] Frank Oscar Weaver: Yeah. Beautifully said. Um, I, I enjoy everything that, that you mentioned. And you know, it's about respecting those wildlife boundaries. And this comes to our number four point. 

Number four, respect wildlife boundaries. 

[00:06:50] Frank Oscar Weaver: The inspiration for this episode came when I was, uh, my family at a park and I saw this other family coming in and they had a little toddler that they just released on the park and the toddler is going around chasing the ducks and the family like, Oh, he's so cute.

But I could tell that the ducks were so stressed. because they're being chased by this little kid and you know we have to be respectful of animals we have to make sure that we keep their distance and people always ask me like how do you know if you are disturbing or an animal or not and what I like to say is If the animal is changing their behavior because of you, then you are disturbing that animal.

Uh, that goes from getting too close to animals, uh, to take a picture or trying to get a video and then just have like that. It's very important to keep our distance from the animals because we don't want to stress them out. 

[00:07:43] Watson Whitford: Maintaining that respectfulness when we're out there. I saw, I don't know how many years ago this was, but You know, somebody got, um, it's not, it's not a funny thing that happened, but it's just kind of crazy where somebody got charged by a buffalo and their pants were on the buffalo's horn.

I mean, it just, for a lot of people, it would seem like it's, it's common sense, but I guess we just need to have those reminders where we need to remind each other in a kind way to maintain that respectful boundary of our animals. You know, they all live somewhere. We have. Even the smallest animals are insects, you know, the bugs, they have their own spaces to the ant hills that are In our backyards or you know, the different birds that come around, you know We need to make sure that we protect their homes, you know And not disturb them so that they can be here for us and you know, every insect every animal Uh, even the plants, they all have their place in our universe, in this world.

And so, when we're able to maintain that respect for our insect, our animal, our plant relatives, then we can live in that cycle with each other, in that circle where, you know, we help one another. Uh, a lot of indigenous peoples are the caretakers of the land, are the stewards of the land and, you know, they do that by maintaining those respectful relationships with the animals.

And so even when you're hunting or you're hiking or when you're out there, you know, maintain that awareness too. You know, that was something I was always shared with. You know, be aware of your surroundings. Maybe you're walking up into a bear's home or a Mountain line or different things like that. You know, you need to be careful.

So Again, just some reminders, you know for our relatives out there. This is um, our animals our plants their homes and You know, we need to make sure we maintain that respect, you know, but we could also enjoy ourselves when we're out there, when we're out hiking and things like that, but we just need to, um, remember that as well.

[00:09:52] Frank Oscar Weaver: Yeah, beautifully saying, and this is something that you mentioned before, or number three is honor ceremonial spaces, you know, mentioning about, uh, smudging yourself, uh, before going a trail. 

Number three, honor ceremonial spaces. 

[00:10:07] Frank Oscar Weaver: Many parks and natural areas have been sacred to indigenous people for thousands of years.

And you know, they're places of power, you know, you can feel it, you know, you, you might not be fully aware of it, but you can feel that there's something powerful about those spaces. And you might even see people there are doing ceremony in those places. in the same way that, you know, we want to be respectful of everybody's religion.

You know, we don't want to go to a church and, you know, people be praying, just go there and start taking pictures of them. I, it's very, uh, important to, uh, make sure that you are knowing that a lot of, uh. Green spaces are actual ceremonial spaces. 

[00:10:44] Watson Whitford: We need to learn together is to make sure we have that, um, to have that permission to be in those spaces, you know, with the local indigenous peoples.

There's a lot of sacred sites that we have as indigenous peoples. Um, it may not just be ceremonial grounds, but it could be certain rock formations or petroglyphs or things like that, you know, where there's writing on the rocks or. Different things like that, or old homes down in the Southwest. There's those, um, uh, Anasazi homes, you know, things like that, you know, those are things that we need to remember to be respectful of because prior to us, even, um, in our modern world, people in the past, our ancestors used to conduct those ceremonies and you don't know what they were conducting those ceremonies for.

So, you know. It could bring something to you, you know, that you may not want, something negative or something that could hurt you. So we need to make sure when you're in those spaces to know what you're walking into, where you're walking into, if you have that permission to walk into. And, you know, there's a lot of ceremonies that are still held by a lot of our indigenous peoples.

And, you know, a lot of them are open to you. Um, attending, open to you, participating, even, you just need to make sure that you have the permission and the respect for those ceremonies. A lot of our Indigenous peoples are very welcoming, you know, and so, if you are interested, you know, just ask an Indigenous person.

You know, there's certain ways to ask, um, even ask the tribe or the members of the tribe, what you may need to give to them to learn more about these ceremonies, what you may need to give to them to learn more about our stories. Our songs, our indigenous peoples are very welcoming. You know, we welcomed our relatives from across the ocean when they traveled here.

And so we still have that. Within ourselves, that welcoming spirit, um, for our relatives that may be interested. So again, you know, maintaining that respect along with all these other things we were talking about. Respect is one of the main things that we need to have for one another. You know, there's a lot of Indigenous peoples that go to church as well.

Indigenous peoples that go to various religious, um, ceremonies, you know, we need to maintain that respect because as long as we are, you know, speaking and praying to our holy beings, to our creator, to our mother earth and things like that, then, you know, it's all good. It's all good, you know, our traditional ways of ceremony are good, uh, our relatives, Christianity, you know, whoever is using it in a good, positive way to help people feel good, to help people feel well, then it's a good way of doing it.

Those are some things that I was taught, you know, we don't talk down about other people's way of religion or talk down about the way other people pray. You know, because we want to be uplifting. We want to help each other. That's something we need to remember when we're stepping into these places. Cause a lot of these places hold so much meaning and a lot of people hold them very close to their heart.

And so, um, just remember that as well. Um, these are good things to, to have discussions about, to have conversations about so that we can maintain our respect for each other.

[00:14:15] Frank Oscar Weaver: That's awesome. I really appreciate, uh, those words and, and, and sharing. Uh, I think. Really like the people listening to this podcast will take that to heart and be able to take these principles and act on it. And, uh, talking about acting on it, you know, number two is leave it better than you found it.

Number two, leave it better than you found it. 

[00:14:38] Frank Oscar Weaver: When I went to, uh, Japan, I was, uh, getting some ramen on the, um, on the metro. They had this little one stands, um, that you just kind of like order, uh, your ramen at a vending machine and you sit down and they just. Pour the ramen like through a window and, uh, I was there enjoying my ramen and I see a gentleman that came in next to me.

He was finishing his ramen. And then after he finished his ramen, he, uh, wiped his whole counter down. And then he went and he grabbed a broom and then he swept the whole ramen shop and he left. Um, and that to me was impressive, you know, here in the United States, you know, after you're done with a meal in a fast food place, you know, you might take your trays to the trash and empty the trash, but you're not going to wipe the table down.

You're not going to sweep the whole restaurant down. Uh, I thought it was really inspiring that philosophy of like, really like leaving the place better than we found it. And I think, um, that's a such important thing when we go to green spaces, you know, is there trash on the floor? It's not your trash, but could you pick it up?

Can you make sure that something that might be broken, like lifted, just leave the place better than you found it. Leave it so then the next person that came is going to enjoy that better than you have found it. 

[00:15:52] Watson Whitford: We need to make sure we maintain that. The beauty of our places, of our green spaces, of our lands, so that, you know, other people can enjoy it.

And not just people today, but people that will be coming into this world in the future, you know. I want the, this reservation, I live on the Rocky Boy Reservation, I want this place to be beautiful. I want there to be clean water, clean air to breathe, to be healthy animals and healthy plants. Not just for my relatives that are here with us now, but for, you know, people that will be coming in the future that aren't even here yet.

You know, when I have kids, grandkids, great grandkids, or even great great grandkids, you know, I want them to enjoy this world the way I've been able to enjoy it, the way my ancestors have been able to enjoy it. When we clean up the trash that we see on the side of the road, or when we're hiking, That's when we make sure we stand up and speak up for the water rights, to keep the water clean, to make sure there's nobody that are, there's no, like, people trying to take away our water from us or trying to, um, build things that could pollute our water or pollute our air around this area.

You know, I, I believe I'm pretty fortunate to be able to live in an area that's pretty rural. And there's not a lot of people in this area, um, or factories or anything like that. So I can see the night sky. I can see so many stars. I can, you know, go to the mountains and drink from a spring. I could breathe fresh air, you know, and not have to worry about smoke or pollution, and I could hunt animals without, um, them having any kinds of diseases.

I could eat medicines from the ground, foods from the, um, plants, you know, without worrying that they have any kinds of pesticides or anything like that. And so, the way I'm able to live this life, you know, I want that for, My relatives here, my sisters, my parents, my family, all my relatives that are here on this reservation and all over the world even, you know, I want them to be able to experience that.

But also, you know, our future generations, because that's the way my ancestors thought for me, you know, my great grandparents. My great great grandparents, you know, as far back as you could think, you know, they prayed for me to be here today. So with that prayer, with that ceremony, we also have that action, taking that action to maintain cleanliness, maintain that beauty in our green spaces.

We try to promote and try to Share with each other and encourage each other. Let's keep these places clean. Let's pick up that trash if we see it. Let's speak up for our Mother Earth. Let's speak up for our Mother Earth so that she can be well. She can be healthy. If you listen to different things out there, listen to the streams, the creeks, the wind, the trees, the plants, you know, you can hear You can hear them if you really listen to the animals and so we need to, you know, strengthen that connection that we have with our different plant animal relatives so that we can hear what they need, you know, and they don't need this trash.

They don't need this pollution. They need a beautiful, clean space to live in. So, you know, I just want to encourage you all. Remember that when you're out there, um, When you see that trash, remember that when you hear about, you know, possible pipelines being built or possible mines being dug, you know, remember that to speak up for our Mother Earth because she gives us everything, everything that we need to live, water.

We need air, we need food, um, shelter, everything that we need to live. She provides it and she doesn't ask for anything back. So the least that we can do is to speak up for her and take care of her. That's the least we can do. And then there's more we can do that, with that, you know, how we, you know, have permaculture gardens, or when we harvest, we use every part of the animal or the plant.

We don't leave anything to waste. Or even if you have extra, give it to a relative or use it in your compost, you know, different things that we use today. So, um, you know, I encourage you all to use these kinds of things and to remember these kinds of things when you're out, um, in these parks, when you're out hiking, when you're out hunting, gardening even.

You know, in your communities, we need to keep these spaces clean for our future generations. 

[00:20:38] Frank Oscar Weaver: Beautifully said. And, and you, uh, kind of went into the next point that is speaking about, uh, Mother Earth becoming true stewards of the planet. 

Number one, go beyond, become a true steward. 

[00:20:51] Frank Oscar Weaver: I recently went to, uh, the springs here in Florida where the manatees, they come during the winter because the water's warmer.

So we have 600, 700 manatees. It's a great site. And I, I enjoy seeing so many people looking at the animals, you know, and I started talking to some of them and they were not aware of all the issues that the manatees are facing right now with, uh, the loss of the habitat, uh, loss of their food, with the overtaking of the water from plastic, uh, water companies in the springs.

You know, they have a disconnect. They're, they're enjoying nature. Yeah. But they're not disconnected with the issues that are affecting the nature that they're seeing. And it's really about stepping up and making that connection and figure out, Hey, If I water my lawn three times a day, where is the water coming from?

That water is coming from where the manatees are living. You know, we have to connect our daily lives with the natural world outside. It's very 

[00:21:48] Watson Whitford: important that we, again, listen to the earth, listen to the animals, to the plants, all the beings that are here, even our spiritual beings, listening to them and making sure that we're working with them.

As indigenous peoples, we always knew that we aren't The highest in this world. We're not the conquerors. We're not, you know, we're a part of this circle of life. You know, I'm, I'm no higher than a ladybug. I'm no higher than a buffalo. And, you know, we're all the same. We all come from the same place. We all live this life.

We all breathe the same air, you know, drink the same water, eat the same plants. And so, you know, we need to remember that. And I think the best way to be able to help our Earth, to help our lands, is one of the best ways, I would say, is by educating yourself. You know, there's so many articles out there about the climate, about climate change that's happening right now.

There's so many articles about indigenous tribes. There's so many books as well about how tribes maintain their lands, how tribes, you know, are so connected to the land. And then also, you know, visiting with local people that have lived there for hundreds of years, that have lived there for thousands of years, many of our indigenous relatives.

You know, those are probably some of the best ways to, you know, help this land, is by educating yourself, by listening. And then also, you know, once you have that information, once you have enough to know, you know, what's right. Then I would go and take that step of advocating and speaking up on behalf of the earth, on behalf of the animals, the plants, on behalf of the humans.

All, everybody here that, you know, we need this earth. We need this land. This is the only place that we have that grows, these plants, that grows and um, these animals that live well, that have these waters that are clean. There's no other place that's like this. And so we need to make sure that we maintain it.

We take care of it and we do more. Um, I know some ways of that is by having like, you know, because I'm in, um, majoring in environmental horticulture. One of the ways that we can do that is by practicing and using permaculture gardens. You know, those are some of the most traditional ways of gardening. A lot of indigenous peoples use that.

And it's. Not tilling up the ground, you know, releasing carbon into the air, or, um, you know, changing the landscape so that your garden could look beautiful, you know, in, in somebody else's eyes, you know, but I believe Our permaculture gardens are very beautiful the way they are, um, local flowers that could be grown, pollinator plants, different traditional foods that are grown, medicines that can be grown in your own backyard, you know, that's some of the ways that you can help our Mother Earth.

Um, and then also just lowering your carbon footprint by Um, there's certain ways about going about that and you know, there's a lot of controversy around that too, but I think knowing yourself and knowing what actions you're taking is the best way and being conscious of the things that you're doing, being, living consciously, you know, not just conscious.

Thanks. Doing things because you just because everybody else is doing it, you know Like we need to make sure we're conscious in the decisions that we make. Is it helping my future? Is it helping our future generations? When I buy certain foods that may come from so much processes industrial processes where They go through a factory and chemicals are put in there and everything like that, like, are you extending your life?

Are you shortening your life? You know, those are some things that I constantly think about and I continue to work on myself. You know, I'm not a perfect person to tell you the way you should live or anything like that. But, I can encourage you from the things that I've learned from my elders. I can encourage you from the things that I've seen, um, with many of the health issues that a lot of Indigenous peoples face too because we lost that.

We didn't lose it. We just haven't, um, had that close connection to it in a while, um, to our traditional food systems, our traditional medicines. Things like that, but I truly believe that our indigenous peoples can reconnect and have and create a stronger connection with our foods, create a stronger connections with their medicines.

And I truly believe that our Western ways of life, you know, we can work in our indigenous ways of life and bring them together where we. are able to help one another, care for one another, and respect one another in our traditional ways of life. Just one more thing I would like to share, um, one of my elders had shared with me, you know, um, our, our relatives from across the ocean are, were meant to come, you know, to these lands, but they, they said that they came to these lands a little too early.

And the way I think about that, you know, what if they came here a little later, when we had more understanding, more open mindedness, you know, to understand each other's way of life, so that we wouldn't see each other as evil, as savage, or different things like that, where we could see each other as humans that have beautiful cultures, you know, I wonder how that would have been.

But I truly believe that it's still possible. I truly believe that we can use our traditional knowledge, our knowledge of this Mother Earth, of our spiritual beings, and we could incorporate that with our Western traditions, our Western education, and use both of those to create a beautiful world where we can have science, but also traditional knowledge of the Earth.

Where it can help the earth heal again, where it can help our people be strong again. And I truly believe that that connection and that intertwined, um, belief of traditional and Western education can be brought back and it could be brought to life. Where our people can live in a beautiful world, where we can comfortably practice our ceremonies, speak our languages, where we can sing our songs.

Thank you. no matter where you're at, and people will be happy with that. People will enjoy hearing that, people will love that, you know, and we could all love one another, and I encourage you all, you know, we need to come together as, as people, come together as children of this earth, as children of our holy beings, you know, we need to come together, um, and realize that we need each other.

For these things to happen, we need each other. We can't do it on our own. We can't do it when we're separated from each other. We need to come together as a people. So. I just wanted to share that with you all. You know, I truly have hope. I truly have hope for our future. 

[00:29:39] Frank Oscar Weaver: Thank you so much, Wasson. There was so many truths on your words.

You're very young, but you're very wise. So I really appreciate, you know, you sharing all your thoughts. all your ideas with us. Um, I feel like people are really going to learn with this episode. Uh, they're going to really take it to their heart and hopefully, you know, we can act better towards our mother earth because, you know, we only have one and is what sustains us for life.

When people say, Oh, you're. You're an environmentalist because you love trees. Yeah, I love trees, but I love people too. Because when the trees are gone, the people are gone. So when, when we talk about Mother Earth, we talk about humans. Also, we have to take care of everybody. We have to be more kind. We have to be more empathetic with each other.

And, you know, help each other to create a better place. So thank you so much, Watson, for being here. Is there any way that people can connect with you or to support any kind of projects you have going on? 

[00:30:38] Watson Whitford: Yeah. Um, so again, like, uh, Frank mentioned in the beginning, I am the co president for the Unity organization.

Um, and this is an organization that supports indigenous, indigenous Youth leadership all over the nation. Um, so if there's any indigenous youth that are interested in this organization, you can reach out to me. Um, I I'll, I'll read out my email. I don't know if you can write it down or anything or how that will work, but it's www.

co president at unity. org. UnityInc. org. Um, but I'm also on Instagram. Um, I don't have Facebook. I'm not old enough, just kidding. But, um, I have Instagram, uh, and that's about it. I I'm mainly on my Instagram. So if you guys are interested or would like to reach out or anything like that, you could also find the email for Unity on the Unity website.

Um, I'm very thankful to be able to have this opportunity, this platform to share. You know, some of my ideas, and again, I'm not a perfect person, and I'm not telling you how to do these things, but, you know, just from the things I've learned, I want to encourage you, you know, I'm not telling you, I'm encouraging you, you know, and, um, these are the things that my elders have taught me, that my community has taught me.

I didn't come up with these things on my own. These are things that I've learned from other people, and so I want to acknowledge them as well. Um, but again, if you'd like to reach out, if you'd like to hear more, if you, uh, I'd like to talk, so, you know, please reach out. I'd love to have more conversations.

So thank you again. 

[00:32:25] Frank Oscar Weaver: Yeah. Thank you, Watson. And we love Unity. It's such a great organization. Um, I've been involved with it for about five years as one of the mentors for the Earth Ambassadors and that's how we met. And it's such a great organization. You know, my friend, uh, recently he ran a hundred miles in less than 36 hours.

Uh, to raise funds for unity. And then he also got a donation of a hundred shoes. They're going to be giving out to native youth so they can run for mental health. So it's, yeah, we, we love unity. And you know, if you want to donate, I'll put the links, uh, to unity too. So you can, um, share because I seen it with my own eyes.

The power, uh, that unity has, uh, to bring positive change. So if you, uh, if you're inclined to donate, I would love for you to do or put in the show descriptions and, uh, Watson, thank you so much once again for taking the time for all your wisdom. And I hope to see you soon. 

[00:33:19] Watson Whitford: Yeah. Thank you very much. We'll see you 

[00:33:21] Frank Oscar Weaver: very soon.

And before we wrap up, I have something special for you. Head over to indigenous earth. org to sign up for a newsletter. We're gonna receive an exclusive video prayer from Watson with for himself. This beautiful prayer will guide you and inspire you to practice asking permission to air the green spaces.

It's our gift to help you begin your journey as a mindful visitor and steward of the sacred lens. Thank you so much for listening, Aguje!